The present invention relates to plastic security bags and more particularly to such bags used for secure transport and delivery of coins and other similar items that are transported in bulk from one location to another such as a retail facility to a bank.
One prior known description of these types of bags is found in U.K. published Patent Application GB 2,238,291A, which includes a thermoplastic bag having front and back panels folded from a single sheet. The edges are marginally heat sealed with, if desired, security printing between the marginal side edges and transversely heat sealed adjacent one of the folded over edges and having a cut out part to form a carrying handle portion between the top fold of the sheet and the heat seal, a portion of the top folded over part outside the transverse heat seal, constitutes a flap to engage the other of the folded over parts, to close the bag when the flap is folded into contact with the other of the folded over parts to seal the bag.
The standard practice in the United States is to use canvas bags for coin transport. These bags are intended for return and re-use and are designed to carry 50 pounds of loose coins, usually of a single denomination (pennies, nickels, dimes, etc). Security is provided by straps around the bag neck secured by lead seals.
There is a need in the U.S. to use secure thermoplastic, disposable bags for transport of 50-pound coin loads. Since the bags must be handled manually during their journey, the bag should have design features enabling or facilitating hand pick up and carry of the bags. Security breaches and inadvertent opening must be prevented even when the bag is accidentally dropped or the loose contents shift during transport.
Although British Patent Application mentioned above purports a convenient design for handling such bags, various technical problems are inherently associated with the same, such as the thermostatic material tends to tear under heavy loads (lifting forces) at upper, outer ends of the handle opening. If the material ply is increased to offset this problem, then the heat seals lose integrity. If the panel side slot opening is not fully closed upon sealing the bag, then the hot-melt adhesive on the flap extends through to the inside surface of the back panel. If a tamper evident flap seal is used and the coins shift toward the top of the bag during transport then the tamper feature can be falsely tripped by the shifting content. See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/447,475 filed Nov. 23, 1999 by the same applicant hereof, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,043 Also, some coins will stick to adhesive after the bag is emptied.
Another problem related to conventional plastic coin bags is the physical harm or risk to the person carrying the bag. The bag and coin content can weigh in excess of 50 pounds. A person lifting and walking any distance and/or up or down stairs with such a load by a single hand grip risks shoulder, arm, and back injury particularly in view of the bag momentum when changing walking direction, etc. Further, some people employed by banks, retail establishments, armored car companies and the like, simply cannot lift and carry such a compact load with one hand as required by conventional plastic coin bags.
A further problem relates to how to provide a coin bag with two separable tear-off receipts that reduce the chance of the operator inadvertently separating both tear-off receipts instead of the intended one tear-off receipt.